Meet Jyoti Pugalia of Wellness Bliss Box

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jyoti Pugalia.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started Wellness Bliss Box last year because self-care is something I have always been passionate about but I realized its importance even more during the past few years. The idea came to me from a class focused on entrepreneurship that I was taking in my MBA program. The class assignment was to come up with a new business idea.

The pandemic gave me time to reflect on how much I had been through in the past few years. I lost my mom in 2019; she was a very selfless person who always prioritized others over herself, and I came to realize that this is something that a lot of women around the world do being a mother, daughter, leader, wife, sister, and friend. And oftentimes, taking care of themselves is the last thing on their mind.

My business idea was to deliver a self-care-focused gift box curated with eco-friendly, natural, and cruelty-free products—hydrating lip and face masks, herbal teas, hand-poured scented candles, these amazing chocolate bars from Haiti with 50% cocoa—so that women can take care of themselves and create a wellness ritual in the comfort of their home.

I source products only from women-owned and small businesses because I want Wellness Bliss Box to be a platform that provides opportunities for everyone to succeed and helps reweave our social fabric to create a more equitable society. We also support and donate 15% of our profit to CARE.org, whose mission is to save lives, defeat poverty, and achieve social justice around the globe.

Launching Wellness Bliss Box has made me see that self-care is as much a celebration of oneself as anything else. And that encouraged me to expand into offering personalized gift boxes for brides, bridesmaids, shower guests, and wedding guests, as well as for other celebrations.

Take baby showers: Usually, the gifts are for the baby. Why not also give the mother-to-be a pampering gift that helps her celebrate herself?

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Starting a small business has a multitude of challenges, especially when you’re a single-person company because you literally have to do everything, from researching the products, building partnerships with various companies, and accounting all the way to sales and marketing, on your own.

In addition, it’s very difficult to obtain market exposure on a limited budget, so I had to put my creative foot forward and create fun, engaging reels featuring me in them, which I had never done before.

Running your own company is at times daunting, but I wouldn’t choose it over anything else because at the end of the day it lets you be your own boss, and being able to pursue your passion is very rewarding and fulfilling.
Along the way, I’ve learned that “self-care” means different things to different people.

So I’ve had to work to get across my vision of self-care: taking care of yourself, of course, but in a way that introduces a touch of luxury into your daily life. And because so many women won’t prioritize self-care, no matter how important it is, I’ve repositioned my marketing somewhat to target gift-givers even more than end-users.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Wellness Bliss Box is a boutique self-care-focused gift box company that leaves a lasting impression. We can curate customized and personalized gifts with handwritten notecards for events such as birthdays, weddings, bachelorette parties, baby showers, etc.

We aim to provide you with artisanal, eco-friendly, and natural products including candles, chocolates, teas, and one-of-a-kind beauty and wellness products sourced from women-owned and other small businesses. Our mission at Wellness Bliss Box is to help you and your loved ones embark on a self-care journey to nourish your mind, body, and soul whilst creating a platform for women-owned and other small businesses to succeed.

There are many things that I am proud of, but the most important things are that our products are all-natural and sustainable with recyclable boxes and that we provide a platform that promotes the visibility of women-owned and other small businesses.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
The most surprising thing is that my bachelor’s degree is in biotechnology and I have worked extensively in the healthcare industry including at several big pharmaceutical and biotech firms including Merck, Genzyme, and LabCorp.

However, I felt like a cog in the wheel working at these large corporations, and I realized that I had always wanted to be my own boss, which is what led me to launch my own company.

Pricing:

• $50 Suprise Box
• $60 – $115 Pamper Me
• $65 – $120 Signature Box
• $25 – $150 – Bridesmaid Proposal Gift
• $25 – $150 – Wedding Gift

Contact Info:

• Email: hello@wellnessblissbox.com
• Website: www.wellnessblissbox.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wellnessblissbox/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WellnessBlissBox/

Image Credits
Diana Defatta and MacKenzie Maroney